On the Bubble

Latest news from Cubs spring training is they are pretty much set as far as position players go with the exception of catcher and pretty much up in the air with respect to the fifth starter and bullpen decisions. I suppose one would qualify set as meaning we know who is going to be on the opening day roster, but not exactly how they will be used, especially second base.

When spring training began, it looked a dead certainty that Baker and DeWitt would platoon there and Barney would become the extra infielder. Objectively, though, you can make a case that Barney has won the job outright, so it will be interesting to see what transpires, also to see if the Cubs have the guts to give him the job or at least half the job. DeWitt is not as bad a player as he has shown this spring, nor is Baker as good, so you can make the case for Barney stronger on that argument alone, especially as he has a good deal more potential. Of course, this makes Baker somewhat superfluous, and as he is a right-handed hitter who cannot hit right-handed major league pitching, he almost becomes a candidate for a trade to get another left-handed hitting infielder if one becomes available.

Reed Johnson has apparently won the fifth outfielder spot. That’s a shame because he is not a good ballplayer and hasn’t been for at least two seasons. He has had a bad spring, but not so bad as Fernando Perez. I was kind of pulling for Perez because he seems intelligent and writes interesting poems and stories. Kind of a poor man’s Doug Glanville. In any case, Johnson is at best a platoon player. As such he joins a predominantly right-handed assortment of half-players that includes Baker, Soriano, and Byrd. Something of a headache for Quade because the majority of pitchers are right-handed and against them he is likely to have no one on the bench who bats left-handed. I expect this explains why Carlos Zambrano is taking extra batting practice. I was a little surprised the Cubs added Johnson to the official roster without first looking over the waiver wires to see if there might be a better alternative.

Things get more interesting when you get to backup catcher, the only position roster spot still undecided. If anyone ought to be on the bubble, it is Koyie Hill. I’ve never seen the big attraction with Hill and this spring he has one hit I think. There is no market for this guy to speak of, so a reasonable team would release him outright. Max Ramirez can at least hit, but I cannot understand the Cubs picking him up either. At first I though it was to give them a right-handed alternative to Pena at first base, but he has not played there all spring, so it is hard to figure out what they can do with him as he is not much defensively and you want your backup catcher to be good behind the plate. Of course, Wellington Castillo is terrific behind the plate and is batting something like .700 this spring, so he is sure to be ticketed to Iowa as he has options remaining. Again, in a sane world, there would be no question who would win this battle. It will be a very encouraging sign if the Cubs do the right thing by Castillo and bring him north as a major league player.